Washington -

Americans turned their attention to the Supreme Court, which heard - for the first time in years - a case related to the "right to abortion", which could open the door to changing a famous previous law passed by the court in 1973 known as the "Roe v. Wade" case, and then supported it in The 1992 case, Burnt Blandwood v. Casey, set the standard for an abortion at 20 weeks after conception.

After the US Supreme Court heard the arguments for and against the Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, many commentators believe that America is on the cusp of delegating the broad legalization of abortion.

The attitudes of the court's nine judges (6 of whom are conservatives and 3 are liberals) reflected the desire of the majority of judges to confirm the ruling issued by the state of Mississippi, which many see as the beginning of a long and complex process followed by the rest of the states wishing to restrict the right to abortion.

Anti-Trump demonstrators and protesters protest against an anti-abortion rights rally in Chicago, Illinois, January 15, 2017 (Reuters)

American division

Abortion is a controversial issue in the United States, and Americans are sharply divided along party, ideological and religious lines.

Nearly five decades after it was addressed in the US Supreme Court, the court's decision on abortion still divides Americans between opponents and supporters on an issue that has not stopped in the courts, but has spread to the polls and the various state legislatures.

Several states imposed or passed new restrictions on abortion in 2021, with the aim of giving the Supreme Court a chance to overturn its 1973 decision.

Last May, the Supreme Court agreed to review a Mississippi law that aims to make most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy illegal, and this case will be the first review of abortion law in court in a long time.

Today, a majority of 59% of adults in the United States say that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 39% believe that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

These views have not changed relatively in the past few years.

The latest Pew Research Center poll, conducted from April 5-11, found deep disagreements about abortion based on party affiliation, which is much broader than it was two decades ago.


How did we get to this stage?

The law passed by Mississippi was blocked by two federal courts, allowing it to reach the United States Supreme Court.

The law allows abortion after 15 weeks, with the exception of medical emergencies, or in cases of severe fetal malformation.

But it does not make an exception for cases of rape or incest.

If doctors perform abortions outside the limits of the law, it provides for the suspension or revocation of their medical licenses, with the possibility of additional penalties and fines.

The court's approval to consider the law came after it also rejected the Texas abortion law ban, which prohibits abortion after about 6 weeks of pregnancy, without making any exceptions for rape and incest as well.

In the view of many conservative jurists, the provisions of the US Constitution do not reflect either the right to life or the right to choose with regard to abortion.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court does not have to choose one side over the other in the most contentious issues in American social life.

After decades that witnessed many failures of the conservative movement calling for restrictions on the right to abortion, signs of change in this direction began to take shape in the United States during the past few years.

Conservative southern states, such as Texas and Mississippi, have been able to pass specific and complex abortion legislation within their borders.

These steps followed the failure of abortion rights advocates to anticipate the election of Donald Trump, who named 3 conservative justices to the Supreme Court, tipping the court's balance in favor of conservatives with 6 justices versus only 3 liberals.

In his meeting with the Pope and the clergy on the sidelines of the climate summit at the end of last October, President Joe Biden discussed his orientations in support of the right to abortion (Getty Images)

Abortion.. a political battle

The administration of President Joe Biden opposed the decision of the state of Mississippi, and Attorney General Elizabeth Prilugar, representing the administration of President Biden, stressed before the Supreme Court the importance of moving away from violating the "Roe v. Wade" law, which guaranteed the right to abortion for 50 years.

While the attorney general representing the state of Mississippi, Scott Stewart, considered that abortion laws "stalk our country" and that they "poisoned the law."

The changes that occurred in the composition of the court in recent years, especially the appointment of 3 conservative judges during the four years of former President Donald Trump's rule, left their effects in changing the court's mood towards the controversial issue, for the first time in many years.

Conservative judges - especially the three Trump appointed, Neil Jursic, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Connie Barrett - expressed a desire to repeal previous legislation, tighten up on abortions, and encourage women to offer their children for adoption rather than "getting rid of them before they are born," as the judge stated. Barrett.

Outside the court gates, hundreds of protesters stood between supporters of abolition and opponents of its ban.

According to a poll conducted by "Fox" news network on 1,002 people between September 12-15, 29% of Americans considered abortion to be a legal act in all cases.

And 20% considered it legal work in most cases.

On the contrary, 11% considered it an illegal act in all cases, and 38% said it was an illegal act in most cases.

In 2017, President Donald Trump signed orders, including restricting (European) funding for abortions.

What then?

It remains unclear what decisions a majority of the court's nine justices intend to make, whether to leave the right to abortion to individual state authorities, or to allow the federal ban on abortion after a specified number of weeks without repealing Roe v. Wade.

It is worth noting that a simple majority - 5 votes - is sufficient to pass any new law.

Debate over the court's new ruling is expected to arrive next spring or early summer, when the court will convene to announce the decisive decision.